Printing machine for lengths of material



Aug. 20, 1940. c, J. ROHLAND PRINTING MACHINE FOR LENGTHS OF MATERIAL Filed Oct. 11, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 6 11/"; f/l a%l a/4az A TTURNEYS.

Aug, 20, l 940.

c. J. ROHLAND 2,211,793

PRINTING MACHINE FOR LENGTHS 0F MATERIAL 4 Sheets-Shet 2 Q ullmlm I Filed Oct. 11, 1937 'II Ill" IIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTORZ A TTORNEYS.

Aug. 20. 1940. c. J. ROHLAND PRINTING MACHINE FOR LENGTHS 0F MATERIAL Filed Oct. ll, 19

I57 4 SheetsSheet 3 Aug. 20, 1940.

c. J. ROHLAND 2,211,793

PRINTING MACHINE FOR LENGTHS 0F MATERIAL Filed Oct. 11, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN TOR. llwwz Jflofav xi ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRINTING MACHINE FOR LENGTHS F MATE RIAL

Application October 11, 1937, Serial No. 168,379

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a marking machine of the type suitable for marking running lengths of wire banding or other similar articles; and has for one of its objects the printing or impressing of characters upon the running length of wire or the like for the purpose of identification, measurement or other uses to which printing may be put upon such linear or running length of material.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an arrangement by which the insulating covering of electrical conductors may be marked without tearing, abrading, or rupturing the surface finish of these conductors even though they be printed freshly after being formed when they are somewhat tacky or easily moldable.

Another object of the invention is the provision of the printing character member which may be readily interchanged with other like members so that other characters may be applied by merely a simple interchange of members which carries the type or characters to be impressed or printed upon the work.

Another object of the invention is an arrangement so that work of different sizes or different diameter may be printed by the simple interchange of the type ring and its guides and supports.

Another object of the invention is to derive motion for all of the operating parts from the work as it passes through the machine with the more specific object of splitting up the transfer of motion so that its sources are from two different points on opposite sides of the work that an easier running action may be afforded.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a drive for the ink supply to the type separate and apart from the type so that the transfer of the ink onto the type or printing characters may belight while the drive may be more positive and in a balanced relation to the type by reason of firmer frictional contact between the driving parts.

Another object of the invention is the utilization of a large portion of the operating parts and their mounting as'the pressure means for moving the type toward the support or back-up roll.

With these and other objects in view, the 50 invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

55 Fig. l is a side elevation of the machine in Fig. 3v is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1

which as will be seen is on a broken plane;

I Fig. 4 is a section on'line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section through the back-up wheel and on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view illustrating the 52 locking mechanism of two of the relatively movable parts and is particularly a section on line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view of the inking mechanism portion of the device; 20

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the ink fountain ant ;1 the transfer roll which is connected there- W1 Fig. 9 is a top plan view of one of the traversing rolls of the inking mechanism;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the type ring;

Fig. 11 is a face view of a fragmental portion of the type ring;

Fig. 12 is a section on line l2-l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view through the work, 0. the type ring, its guide roll and the back-up roll showing the relative position of the parts in somewhat enlarged relation;

Fig. 14 is a fragmental portion of the work showing printing thereon;

Fig. 15 is a sectional View of a modified form of type ring;

Fig. 16 is a detail sectional view showing the locking of certain parts together.

It. is desirable that any printing upon wire particularly upon the insulated covering of wire 40 be done immediately upon its formation, which is usually before the insulated covering is completely hard and set. This requires that the parts which contact and guide the wire be of such a character that they move with the wire and prevent any great amount of rubbing which might tear or rupture the surface of the wire. It also is desirable that there be a ready interchange of parts 'for varying the size of wire or 5 for printing various inscriptions and characters upon the wire; and by the use of this apparatus which is described herein all of these advantageous results are accomplished and a machine is provided which is extremely simple in 5 its construction and operation; and the following is a more detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention, illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished:

With reference to the drawings, l5 designates an upstanding support frame provided with a base l6 for resting upon or attachment to some desired part on or adjacent to the wire covering machine. This base is provided with a cut out or recess IT which is in a location for accommodating the passage of wire vertically upwardly therethrough. Standard I5 is somewhat triangular in shape although the exact shape of the structure is unimportant so long as it provides a bearing for the back-up or platen Wheel l8 and a mounting for the remaining part of the structure.

A boss I9 on the standard l5 (see Fig. 5) serves to support a stub shaft 20 having a reduced portion 2| passing through an opening 22 in the boss and standard 15 and secured by means of the threaded end 23 and nut 24'. The back-up wheel l8 has a hub 25 rotatably mounted upon the stub shaft 20 which is held against moving axially of the shaft by the washer 26 secured as by screw 21 to the end of the shaft to prevent axial sliding of the wheel from the shaft. This wheel is recessed on its surface and an annular rubber band M is set in this recess to provide an engaging surface and cushion support. 'A cam 28 is secured to the hub to rotate therewith and is positioned between the end of the hub and the boss IS.

A lever 3| is pivoted upon the standard [5 by means of a pin 33 extending into boss 32, the lever 3| being rockably mounted on this pin and held from axial sliding on the pin by washer 34 and headed screw 35 threaded into the end of the pin 33. This lever'3l has an arm 36 engaging the cam 28 so that as the back-up wheel rotates the cam will move the lever about its pivot to oscillate its arm portion Slupwardly and down- Wardly.

The upper end of the standard I5 is thickened (see Fig. 16) and a pin 29 extends therefrom providing a support for rockably mounting the frame 38. The frame 30 is of a somewhat irregular outline being of skeleton formation to provide bearings for various parts in certain definite locations, while the remaining parts of the structure are cut away for lightness. The outline of this frame may be traced by the numeral 38 applied at various points on the drawing. This frame is offset at 39 so that its main portion is in a plane out of line with its pivotal portion or boss 4!] which has an opening to receive the pin 29 and has a finger 4| to extend upon the opposite side of the standard to hold it from sliding axially of the pin 29. However, when this frame is swung vertically upwardly through forty-five or more degrees or an amount sufficient so as to clear the lever 31, the finger 4! is raised clear of the standard [5 permitting the frame to be freely slid from its pivot. Thus in sliding from its pivot there will be no danger of bending the lever arm 3!. As illustrated in Fig. 3, this frame has a bifurcated portion at its lower end 42 comprising a bracket 43 with a portion 44 in spaced relation to the frame 42 so as to receive the lower portion 45 of the standard IE to steady this bracket and guide it in its movement about its pivot. This bracket also serves as a point of engagement for the arm 46 pivoted as at Al to the standard l5, see Figs. 1 and 2, so

that when this frame is lifted, such for instance as for changing the type wheels, this arm 46 may be swung into the position shown in Fig. 2 to engage the end of the bracket and hold the frame in this supported position for interchange of parts.

The frame 33 may be limited in its downward movement about its pivot 29 by reason of the member Hi2 threaded through a suitable bearing in the bracket to contact with the portion 45 of the standard, there being provided a knurled head I03 and a lock nut I04 to bind the part H12 in position.

This frame 39 is provided with a boss 48 (see Fig. 3) which supports shaft 49 by means of its reduced portion 5E extending through the boss and being secured by its threaded end 5| and nut 52, while on this stud shaft 49 there is rotatably mounted a wheel 53 having a rubber outer surface 54 which is held in position by a large headed screw 55 secured on the end of the stub shaft 49. This wheel is freely rotatable upon the stub shaft. 7

Frame 36 also is provided with a boss 56 (see Fig. 4) which supports the shaft 5'! by means of its reduced portion 53 extending through the boss 56 and having a threaded end 59 secured in position by nut 66. A knurled wheel 5| is provided with an elongated hub 62 which is rotatably supported on this stub shaft 57 and is recessed to receive the enlarged head 63 of the pin 57 to hold this wheel against axial sliding from the pin 5'! while being freely rotatable thereon. This hub has a guide wheel 64 slidably mounted upon it which also has a corresponding hub 65 which is keyed to it by means of a cotter pin 65 passing through registering holes in the hub 65 and hub 62 to serve to lock the parts against relative rotating movement and also to lock them This wheel 64 is reagainst axial movement. cessed as at 62 in a width and depth dependent upon the type ring which is to be utilized and size of wire which is to be worked upon in the machine, various different wheels being supplied for different sizes of rings and work.

' There is also provided on the frame 30 a boss 1i] (see Fig. 3) which serves to mount the stub shaft "H by reason of its being reduced in diameter to provide aportion 72 extending through the opening in the boss and threaded as at T3 to receive the nut M. This stub shaft 'H rotatably supports the wheel 15 provided with a knurled surface 76 and having an elongated hub Tl recessed as at IE to receive the headed screw 79 which has threaded engagement as at 80 into the pin if to hold the wheel from axial movement from the pin or stub shaft H while freely rotatably mounting it thereon. A wheel BI is mounted upon the hub H and is secured thereto by the cotter pin 82 extending through registering openings in the hub 83 of this wheel and the hub ll of the wheel 75. This wheel 8| provides a recess 8 for receiving and guiding the type ring which bottoms upon this recess and is guided by its side walls, various wheels with different grooves being supplied for different sizes of rings to be mounted in the machine.

A pin 81 extends from the lower portion of the frame 30 to rockably mount an arm 88 (see Fig. 1) having a suitable boss 88 with an opening to receive this pin, while it rotatably supports at its outer free end a wheel 89 having a narrow flange 9B and a wide flange 9|, this wheel being secured against axial movement by the headed screw 92 extending into the rotary support at the end of receive the washer I25 and headed screw I26 the arm 68. Various other wheels 89 may be supplied having the flanges 90 and 9| different distances apart to accommodate various width rings. The arm 88 is limited in its-swinging movement by means of a pin 93 which will engage the frame at a position to prevent the wheel 89 from contacting any support or part below the plane upon which the device may be mounted so as to prevent injury thereof.

The type ring 95 is shown in detail in Fig. 10 and consists of an annular member of some desired cross-section, such as T-shaped, as shown in Fig. 12, although a rectangular section is suitable. This shown section provides a narrow stiffening part 96 with a head 91 extending from either side of the part 96, while the type 30 is formed integral with the ring and raised upon its surface, This ring is suitable for printing wire up to a diameter of less than one-half of an inch, However, when larger wire is utilized I will provide a ring such as shown in Fig. 15 having a tapered groove or recess 93 for receiving the tapered ring I00 of rubber which extends about the ring, or I may. utilize other varying means of providing a printing roll for contact with the work.

The ring printing member which is illustrated in Fig. 10 is shown in the other figures of the drawings as mounted so as to fit within the groove 61 of the wheel 66 (see Fig. 4) and the groove 84 of the Wheel 8| and to fit between the narrow flange 90 and the wide flange 9| of the wheel 69 (see Fig. 3), this ring being easily insertable upon these three points of support by merely lifting the arm 68 and positioning the ring into these two grooves, and then allowing the arm 88 to lower into position so that its roll 89 engages the ring to guide it in its movement in the other grooved rolls. The portion 96 of this ring bottoms upon the groove 84 with its head or wider portion just touching or extending into the edge of the groove to prevent axial movement While the portion 96 extends into and bottoms upon the groove 61 of the wheel 64 with its head also guided between its side walls. In this wheel the depth of the groove is sufficiently great so as to also receive and guide the wire or work which I designate IOI (see Fig. 13), as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, and as the work varies in size the grooved rolls will be changed for accommodation of the different sizes of work.

The inking mechanism consists of a separate completely detachable unit mounted upon the frame 30. A pivot pin I05 is fixed upon the frame 30 extending laterally therefrom while a frame I06 is provided with a boss I01 and an opening I08 to receive this pin I05 and be rockably supported thereon. This frame is positioned on the pin I05 when in a raised position and is looked upon this pin I65 by means of a hook I09 into which it is lowered when in working position. The limit of its lowered position may be adjusted by means of the screw I I0 threaded into the boss HI and manipulated by the handle H2 and held in adjusted position by the set screw II3, the end II4 of this screw engaging the extension II 5 of the frame 30 to limit its downward position relative thereto and to support it in such adjusted position.

A boss H 6 serves to support a stub shaft III by means of a reduced portion H8 threaded into a suitable opening H9 in this boss. Upon this stub shaft II1 a rubber roll I20 is rotatablv mounted by its hub I2I being locked by cotter pin I23 to the hub I22 having a recess Q24 to threaded into the shaft II1. This wheel I20 has portions I21 and I28 to engage the knurled surfaces 16 of the wheel 15 and I29 of the wheel 8| for causing rotation thereof, while it has a surface I30 of lesser diameter for engaging the type Wheel and transferring ink thereto. A lever I3I is pivotally mounted on the boss H6 and car ries a pawl I32 pivoted as at I33 for engagement with the ratchet wheel to be described.

An ink fountain I35 consists of a trough I36 in which ink I31 is contained. The forward end of the trough provides bearings I43 and I44 to rotatably mount a pin I45 having a roll I46 fixed thereon and extending through a slot I41 in the end wall I 48 of the trough so as to engage the ink. This shaft I45 has a ratchet wheel I49 fixed thereon and the shaft extends through the frame.

I06 and serves to rockably mount the trough pivotally in position about this shaft A pin I38 extends from its side Wall I39 of the trough into a notch I in the frame I06 to be secured in position by the knurled nut I4I engaging the threaded end I42 of this pin I4I, to hold the trough in adjusted position. The pawl I32 extends to engage this ratchet wheel so as to propel the same in response to the oscillation of the lever 31 and I3I. I have provided a cap I50 which may be secured in adjusted position by an arm I5I which cap covers a portion of the teeth of the ratchet wheel I40 so as to control the number of the teeth engaged by the pawl and govern the amount of rotative movement of the ratchet Wheel and provide an easy adjustment therefor. An auxiliary rotating member I52 is supported on a shaft I53 mounted in bearings I54 in the trough to assist in distributing and feeding ink to the Wheel I 46. A guard I55 is built up from the edge of the trough to prevent ink from getting into the ratchet wheel but the pawl I32 is of a rather heavy construction with a sharp knife edge type of dog I56 which will serve in a large measure to cut through any ink which may accidentally accumulate on the ratchet wheel and will tend to discharge it therefrom.

A plurality of rolls are utilized for transferring 1 and distributing the ink from this pick-up roll I46 to the roll I20. A frame I60 is-hung upon a pivot I6I extending from the frame E06 and consists of a pair of spaced plates with a rubber roll I62 mounted in slots I63 by means of a pin I64 and spacing collars I65 while a metal roll I66 is fixedly mounted upon a pin I61 extending through the plates I60 to support it in position. This frame is slid upon the pin I6I when in raised position and held against axial movement on the pin by reason of looking with a hook I63 fixed on the frame I06, when the plates I60 are in lowered or operating position. I also provide a roll I10 mounted in the frame I1I, which frame has a pair of spaced plates I12 and an integral bearing I13 having an opening I14 to receive a pin I15 which is fixed upon and extends from the frame I06. This frame locks in position on the frame I 06 when in lowered position by reason of the hook H16 on the frame so that the roll I10 is in contact with the intermediate portion I30 of the roll I20. Cams I11 and I18 (see Fig. 9) are located on either side of the roll I10 and are secured to the pin I19 upon which this roll is mounted, so that as the roll rotates it moves axially back and forth by the pin sliding in the bearings I80 in the plates or arms I 12, these cams engaging projections I BI on the arms I12. When' the rolls I66, I 62 and I10 are all in lowered work ing position the rubber roll I62 is somewhat compressed so that good contact is had between the rolls of the series and any ink which is picked up by the roll I46 is transferred to the roll I66 thence to the roll I62, thence to the roll I70, and thence to the roll I20 where it is applied to the printing type 98 on the printing ring. The roll I46 is driven from the pawl and ratchet, as above explained. A cover and guard I6I has a leaf I82 to extend over and close the ink reservoir and an arcuate portion I83 to protect the moving parts. This arcuate portion I83 is slotted to receive the frame 30 so that the end of the arcuate portion rests in a recess I84 in the frame I06 to serve as a pivotal point of support while the leaf of the guard rests on the trough I35 as another point of support. The guard may be easily lifted by its leaf portion I82 pivoting about the notch I84 for adding more ink to the trough.

The entire weight of the frame 30 and ink fountain tend to swing the frame 30 with the printing ring toward the back-up roll I8 and the work IOI which is usually drawn upwardly contacting the rubber surface I4 of the back-up roll and guided between the flanges of the roll 64 in the recess 61 of the roll which supports the printing ring as it is moved upwardly through the machine. This weight may be supplemented by the weight I85 if desired. The wire transfers its motion to the printing ring and the wheel 64 which in turn drives roll 6|, which by reason of its knurled surface engaging the rubber 54 of the roll 53, transfers its motion to the knurled surface 16 of the roll I and this knurled surface together with the knurled surface I29 which rotates with it transfers its motion to the rubber r011 I20 so that this roll I20 is driven independently of its surface I30 which contacts with the type. This roll I20 in turn drives the oscillating roll I and the train of rolls I62, I66 and I46 serving to assist in driving are driven together one from the other, the latter from a different source as by the positively driven ratchet wheel. The amount of pressure on the rubber roll I20 with its knurled surfaces I6 and I29 may be varied by the adjusting screw I I0 while the amount of pressure on the wire may be varied by the adjusting screw I02.

If it is desired to change type rings such as 95 it is merely necessary to raise the frame, as shown I in Fig. 2, and insert the arm 46 to hold it in raised position and then by lifting and holding the frame I06 and also lifting the arm 88 the ring may be removed from position and a new ring inserted with different type thereon. If, however, a different diameter wire is to be handled the grooved roll 64 and roll 8I will be changed so that the depth of the groove 6'! in roll 64 and depth of groove in roll 8| may accommodate the size wire desired, and in this case a different type ring will also be provided having a diiferent head portion 91 to fit these wider grooves in these rolls if the wire be wider.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. In a printing machine, a hoop-shaped printing ring, and a plurality of grooved rolls positioned for receiving the inner surface of said ring in said groove and rotatably supporting said ring in position in said machine, and means having yielding engagement with said ring adapted to hold it in desired position, said means being movable out of contact with the ring for removal of the same.

2. In a printing machine, a hoop-shaped ring, and a plurality of grooved rolls for receiving said ring in said groove and rotatably supporting said ring in position in said machine, one of said rolls also receiving the work between the side walls of said groove and guiding it in its passage through the machine.

3. In a printing machine, a hoop-shaped ring, a pair of grooved rolls for receiving said ring in said groove and rotatably supporting said ring in position in said machine, and a third roll at the end of a swinging arm to engage said ring and by the weight of the roll and arm assist in holding the ring in desired position, said arm being swingable to remove the roll from contact with the ring for removal of the same.

4. In a printing machine, a back-up or platen wheel, a centerless printing ring positioned in close proximity to said wheel to print work passing between said wheel and ring, said ring being supported on its inner surface by a plurality of rotating supports, one of which being movable to a position out of contact with the ring for removal of the same.

5. In a printing machine, a printing ring, a back-up or platen wheel of substantially the same size as said ring, and means for guiding work in passing between the wheel and ring, said means also serving as a support for said ring.

6. In a printing machine, a standard, a platen wheel rotatably mounted on said standard, a frame swingably mounted on said standard, a type ring rotatably mounted on said frame and movable toward and from said wheel by the swinging of said frame relative to said support, and interlocking means between said frame and standard to hold the parts against relative movement axially of the swinging mounting between them when in working position, said interlocking means being free of such holding when the frame is in raised position.

7. In a printing machine, a framework, a platen wheel and a type ring thereon, an inking unit for said type ring comprising a frame swingably mounted on said framework and movable toward and from said type ring by r swinging of the frame relative to its support, and interlocking means between said framework and unit to hold the parts against relative movement axially of the swinging mounting between them when in working position, said interlocking means being free of such holding when the frame is in raised position.

8. In a printing machine, a platen wheel, a rotatably mounted printing ring, means for applying ink on said printing ring comprising a plurality of rotatable parts, means deriving its power through the ring for rotating some elements of said inking mechanism, and means deriving its power through the platen wheel for rotating other elements of said inking mechanism, said platen wheel and type ring being arranged to derive movement entirely through the engagement of the work therewith moving through the machine.

9. In a printing machine, a framework, a platen wheel and a type ring thereon, an inking unit for said type ring carried on a frame swingably mounted on said framework and movable toward and from said type ring by swinging of the frame relative to its support, and interlocking means between said frame and framework arranged to hold the parts against relative movement axially of the swinging mounting between them when in working position and free of such holding when the frame is in raised position.

10. In a printing machine, a platen roll, a printing ring directly driven by the work, a plurality of rolls supporting said ring adjacent its periphery and rotated by the ring, inking mechanism for the printing ring comprising a plurality of rolls arranged to form a. train for conveying ink to the ring, one of the ring-supporting rolls furnishing a drive for the ink mechanism at one end of the train.

11. In a printing machine, a platen roll, a printing ring directly driven by the Work, a plurality of rolls supporting said ring adjacent its periphery and rotated by the ring, inking mechanism for the printing ring comprising a plurality of rolls arranged to form a train for conveying ink'to the ring, one of the ring-supporting rolls furnishing a drive for the link mechanism at one end of the train, and separate and independent means including a cam associated with the platen roll for driving the train of rolls at the other end of the train.

12. In a printing machine, a platen roll, a printing ring directly driven by the work, a plurality of rolls supporting said ring adjacent its periphery and rotated by the ring, inking mechanism forthe printing ring comprising a plurality of rolls arranged to form a train for conveying ink to the ring, one of the ring-supporting rolls furnishing a drive for the ink mechanism at one end of the train, and separate and independent means including a ratchet and pawl mechanism associated with the platen roll for driving the train of rolls at the other end of the train.

CURT J. ROHLAND. 

